Update! Moto Mayhem IV, coming to Kampot, Cambodia 24th February 2018!
In a remote stadium hidden somewhere in the depths of Kampot’s countryside, a group of eclectic motobike racers gather. The goal, to challenge the rivals almighty powerful motos to see who has the fastest man-machine combo, Kampot style. This is top fuel racing at it’s finest, on grass!
Mostly expats from as far away as Siemreap, fought against each other on their Challies, Win’s & Daelim’s in a fun afternoon of racing, enjoyed by a grandstand half full of spectators, at times resembling the Barmy Army. Food beer and drag racing old motobikes, in rural Cambodian countryside gave entertainment for all.
Moto mayhem III, was great. Numbers were down on the last event, probably due to the grass track, however the surface kind of settled over the day and didn’t seem to cause any problems. Difficulties in securing Kampot town’s Olympic stadium left the organisers to look further afield. They managed to find yet another Olympic stadium 5km from Kampot! The track being grass, was levelled with the use of a few cows, followed by the groundsman’s bowing green smooth(ish) strimmer finish, giving a half decent track. Game on!
A small race entrance fee (spectators free) allows anyone with an old motobike that falls within the entry rules, to race their dream machines against other competitors all afternoon. There were classes for different bikes, with some kind of marking system, understood by somebody somewhere. Initially all looked under control. As the day wore on, it seemed more and more racers joined in just for the fun of it. Highlights being the two’s up challenge where the idea of balance on a chally was not quite understood, leaving two lasses in a heap on the grass, a somewhat softer landing than on tarmac. The other incident happened during a man verses machine battle, a push bike going up against a moto. The push bike took an early lead, with a bit of help from spectators, pipped at the line, but only just. The two riders both took a dive into the grass in an attempt to amuse the now tipsy spectators. One broken wrist, the first and only injury of the day.
Keep an eye out on the Kampot Survival Guide website for the next round of fun. The idea is to hold this event bi annually. At the moment dates are a bit random, with availability of suitable venues being a key factor. There also seems to be a bit of an interest from other provinces, perhaps setting an event up somewhere else within Cambodia. If you are heading for Kampot, especially you Win & Daelim drivers, keep an eye out for this fun event.
Interested in Kampot, you may also be interested in this blog.
Also Kampong Trach caves and beyond.
Heading To Angkor Wat? Check out our Angkor Wat Survival guide!
You mat also like Kampot Salt Fields, a moment in time. Timelapse.
Check out our Cool Kampot Postcards here!
A note on the Video.
This is my first attempt at video. The intention is to add video to my timelapse work to create a storyline. I’ve been shooting with a Canon 6D for a while now, absolutely great for photography & timelapse. However, for 4K video, Canon can not come close to what Sony offer for a similar price bracket. The video was shot with a Sony A6300, 16-35 kit lens all mounted on a zhiyun crane v2 gimbal, total kit value under $1400. The sony can shoot 4k at 30fps and UHD at a whopping 120fps giving super slow motion results. That is some stunning kit for the price.
It’s been a bit of a learning curve. As they say, the best way to learn is practice, and this event proved to be an ideal project. I struggle with the sony menu coming from using Canon gear, but in time this will get better. The other major obstacle was learning Adobe Premier Pro. After effects is my goto for timelapse, but using Premier Pro, i can see the advantages, it looks like a great tool. The next project should go together a lot quicker now I’ve cracked my work flow 🙂
2 comments. Leave new
A great write up and pictures,I would recommend proof reading it for spelling errors and grammar before posting though as I found quite a few mid-sentence capital letters,spelling errors etc from beginning to end starting with “deepths”,oh and the video link doesn`t work. 🙂
Hi Willie. Cheers for the feed back! It was a case of trying to clear up 2017 work. Normally I have things proof read. Not this one, lesson learned. Hopefully it reads better now. Check that video link, it works for all of the people i’ve talked to, and was the reason for me attending. It was my first movie project, bit of a challenge.